Hear Oscar talk about the Epic surf skis and the message is clear: "The V10 is the fastest, most stable, best designed, best built ski in the world and the V10 Sport comes a close second!" It’s more stable and slightly slower but, “On the V10 Sport, I could still win the Molokai against anyone on any ski (except the V10)”!

But there is only one Oscar – what do lesser mortals think of the ski? Said lesser mortals had the opportunity to try out the V10 Sport this weekend here in Cape Town...

First Looks

(The demo ski is the only V10 Sport in South Africa, Oscar having brought it back from the Chinese factory after his recent trip there.)

The Epic V10 Sport

Click here for a larger image. 

The build quality is superb. The deck and hull are immaculate and bear testimony to the CNC machined plug that was used to create the mold. Slightly shorter (about 16inches/400mm) and noticeably wider (1inch/25mm) the ski looks very much like its bigger brother with the same big volume nose and wide afterdeck.

V10 on the left; V10 Sport on the right

The seat is also wider and suits generously upholstered backsides.

The wider cockpit

Earlier this year I spent a month paddling a V10 and achieved some great results (for me) in the last races of the season. I particularly enjoyed two races that saw us paddle downwind at a 45 degree angle to the wind and waves – the stability of the ski made it easy to catch the runs and the directional stability made it easy to stay on them.

So how did the V10 Sport compare? I was lucky enough to spend 40 minutes or so playing in the surf, enjoying what amounted to a personal coaching session with big Oscar. In 40 minutes it’s of course not possible to form more than a first impression, but several things struck me:

• The ski is extremely stable, but still feels fast and responsive.
• The steering was far better than the demo V10 – something that can be attributed to the new rudder which is longer and some 25% bigger.
• The seat is very wide and apart from the incompatibility between the V10 bucket (which rubs me raw in minutes) and my coccyx, I’d have to install a bum pad to stop sliding around in it.
  

The distinctive V10 afterdeck